Marfrig's net profit of bi R$2,2 in 4th Qtr

SAO PAULO (Reuters)-the Group of Marfrig beef had net profit of 2.2 billion reais in the fourth quarter, driven by capital gain generated by the sale of a subsidiary Keystone and reversing a loss of 22 million dollars registered a year before. The company showed cash generation as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) adjusted from 881 million reais in the last three months of last year, up 18% compared to the fourth quarter of 2017. The company had reported in November that has received 1.4 billion dollars with the sale of the Keystone for u.s.-based Tyson Foods. The Marfrig, second largest processor of beef in the world, had net revenue of 10.6 billion dollars in the period, an increase of 12% over the last three months of 2017, despite fall of 8% on slaughter of livestock. According to Marfrig, revenue growth was driven by the depreciation of the real against the dollar, which helped to compensate for the smaller abates in South America. The ratio of net debt over adjusted Ebitda ended at 2.39 2018 times in reais and in 2.31 times dollars, below the target of 2.5 times defined by the company. The company said it expects continued the trend of recovery in domestic consumption in Brazil this year, in addition to maintaining the growth of international demand.